Possession

He looked at the panel.

The Slaughter Value had risen directly from four to six.

Clearly, that slash had not only shattered the illusion but had also dealt some kind of damage to that evil creature.

The increase in Slaughter Value

undoubtedly proved this point.

It also made Shen Changqing understand that he did not need to kill an evil creature outright. As long as he inflicted certain damage upon it, he could gain the corresponding Slaughter Value.

Back in the Demon Suppression Prison, when he had obtained Slaughter Value from the remnants of demons, he had already been somewhat certain of this.

There was more than one path to obtaining Slaughter Value.

The long saber hung at his side, its tip lightly touching the ground. Shen Changqing made no further move.

The evil creature had launched an attack.

It certainly would not leave matters there.

Judging from their head-on clash just now, that evil creature was at most Ghost-class, and even somewhat weaker than the one in Ancient Moon Village.

Even before breaking through, Shen Changqing had been confident he could cut it down.

Now that he had broken through to the Innate Realm,

he paid a Ghost-class monster no heed at all.

However—

What Shen Changqing had always feared was not a Ghost-class monster. He feared that the Eternal Life Alliance would send out monsters above the Ghost class.

To put it plainly,

he had only just broken through to the Innate Realm.

Although the transformed Pure Yang True Qi had become far more effective at restraining evil creatures,

if a powerful Resentment-class monster truly made a move, Shen Changqing was not one hundred percent confident he could handle it.

That slash

had already injured the Ghost-class monster. It would not easily attack a second time.

Time passed.

Shen Changqing stood with his saber in hand, his senses stretched to their limits as he observed the slightest changes around him.

Yin energy churned at his side.

Whoosh—

Shen Changqing suddenly moved. His long saber flashed out like a thunderbolt, and a heat wave swept in all directions.

A pale hand collided head-on with the blade and was instantly forced back.

"Aah!"

With a piercing shriek, the evil creature retreated.

Shen Changqing took a step forward, intending to pinpoint the creature's location, but it vanished too quickly. By the time he arrived, he had caught nothing but empty air.

"Damn it!"

He cursed inwardly.

Shen Changqing's gaze turned cold as he watched the changes around him.

The greatest difficulty in dealing with evil creatures was that they were formless and intangible. Unless one found the object they possessed, it was hard to do anything to them.

"There are only two ways to resolve this. Either when it shows itself next, I kill it with the force of thunder, or I find the place where it is possessing something.

Other than those two methods, there is no other possibility."

Shen Changqing felt somewhat helpless.

Evil creatures truly were difficult to deal with. If one could not find a flaw, one could only passively endure their attacks.

There were many things within his field of vision. He simply could not determine which one was the object possessed by the evil creature.

Besides,

the object possessed by the evil creature might not necessarily be inside the yamen. It could even be outside it.

Based on Shen Changqing's understanding of evil creatures,

the range affected by an evil creature's illusion was determined by its strength.

But a Ghost-class monster's illusion could affect at most one to two thousand zhang, while its attack range was within one hundred zhang. It absolutely could not exceed that limit.

In that case,

the object possessed by the evil creature had to be within one hundred zhang as well.

If this were not a yamen, Shen Changqing would have wanted to set it ablaze.

"Either it is inside the yamen, or it is outside it. But it cannot be too far away. Unfortunately, I cannot leave now. This evil creature attacked the yamen because it is after the Zhao Family members!"

Shen Changqing calmed himself. Now it was simply a matter of seeing who could outlast whom.

As long as he did not leave this place, the evil creature would have no chance of succeeding in breaking the prisoners out—provided no powerful evil creature appeared.

At this moment,

his mind had completely focused. Pure Yang True Qi surged through his limbs and bones, raising his condition to its peak.

Shen Changqing waited.

He waited for a chance to kill with a single strike.

Before breaking through to the Innate Realm, he had not possessed such strength. But after the breakthrough, the transformation of his Pure Yang True Qi had changed everything.

As long as the timing was right,

even if he could not find the object possessed by that evil creature, he might still be able to kill it.

After that brief exchange,

the scene fell silent again.

Shen Changqing stood at the entrance to the prison like an iron tower, no longer moving even half a step lightly.

Not long after,

his ears twitched. Faint sounds arose, followed by yin energy bursting forth at his side.

But this time,

Shen Changqing did not move. He allowed the yin energy to approach—

However,

when the yin energy came within three chi of his body, it suddenly dissipated as though it had never existed.

A test!

Shen Changqing sneered inwardly.

After their earlier clash, that evil creature had sensed his strength. Now, it no longer dared attack carelessly and only dared conduct a simple test.

When the disturbance produced no result, the scene quickly returned to calm.

Less than half a quarter-hour later,

a clamor erupted from the other side of the yamen, causing quite a commotion.

Shen Changqing tightened his grip on the long saber and looked coldly in another direction. Flames flickered repeatedly there, as though fighting had broken out.

"Making a feint in the east to strike in the west!"

"Or besieging Wei to rescue Zhao?"

He could not be certain, but he was currently alone and outnumbered. He could either stay here and ensure the evil creature could not break the prisoners out, or abandon the Zhao Family members and go rescue the others.

Just then,

someone came running over in a panic.

"My lord, something has happened!"

"What happened?" Shen Changqing looked at Hong Cheng, who was stumbling toward him, and frowned again.

There was no blood on Hong Cheng's body. His face looked extremely panicked, yet for some reason, he seemed strangely off.

Wait!

Strangely off!

Shen Changqing's heart jolted. Without another thought, he slashed his saber at Hong Cheng.

The supposedly panicked Hong Cheng revealed an eerie smile. In the next instant, he dodged the saber strike. His callused palm sprouted sharp nails and stabbed toward Shen Changqing's chest.

"Bold!"

Shen Changqing flew into a rage. He did not withdraw his saber. Instead, he attacked with his other hand, a fierce palm wind howling forth as it crashed brutally into the other's palm.

Bang—

The tremendous force shattered the nails, and the arm twisted under the impact of that overwhelming power.

'Hong Cheng' retreated. Even though his arm had twisted like a rope and pale bones had pierced through flesh into the air, his face showed not the slightest trace of pain. Only shock filled his eyes as he looked at Shen Changqing.

"Innate Realm!"

"Resentment-class monster!"

Shen Changqing spat out those words, his voice as cold as the depths of winter.

His worst suspicion had still come true.

The Eternal Life Alliance had not only sent evil creatures to break the prisoners out, but had also dispatched a Resentment-class monster.

A Resentment-class monster no longer merely attached itself to certain dead objects. It could directly possess living people and control everything about them.

Hong Cheng before him was in precisely such a possessed state.

Together with the Ghost-class monster from before, there were now two evil creatures within the yamen.

Kill!

Without any needless words, Shen Changqing stepped forward and charged straight at 'Hong Cheng.'

The long saber tore through the air!

Its sound was like thunder!